"Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures." ~Jessamyn West

Once again the book I am reading has me thinking.  When did money become the ruler of conscience?  Americans, for the most part, are the product of immigrants, and most of our forefathers came with little more than the shirts on their back.  My grandfather came from Russia in the early nineteen hundreds.  He left my grandmother so he could build a better life for her.  He toiled as a baker for ten years, forming bagels and challah through the night hours, until he could afford to bring her here and start a family. His story was not an unusual one for people coming to America, but some became wildly financially successful. They believed they had found the American dream.  They ran companies that grew bigger and more successful at the expense of many low earning workers.  Somewhere along the line, some of those business owners and CEOs started to believe that they were just a little more important than those who worked to make them successful.   They soon convinced themselves that they were due most of the earnings because they were just that important.  Then, when the economy started failing, they convinced themselves that it was morally okay to take the money and run, leaving many workers without jobs, pensions and health care.  The Alligator Man by James Sheehan shows what can happen to the men who get to the top and the men who they step on to get there.

Of course not all men get to the top by stepping on people.  Some get their by stepping up for people.  I am reading a book called The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change.  The author, Adam Braun, believes he is an ordinary man. He was on his way to a very successful Wall Street career when he realized that he needed to do more in his life.  While traveling through India he met a child who was begging on the streets.  Adam asked the child what one thing he wanted more than anything, and the child said, "a pencil."  This led him to leave an extremely prestigious job, invest a mere $25, and start Pencils of Promise.  From this small beginning, Adam Braun has started more than 200 schools around the world.  I read about people like this whenever I can to remind me that there are many good people in the world, and we need to make sure that our children continue to have these heroes to look up to when things get rough.

Unfortunately some of the heroes that enamored us a few decades ago are proving to be less than heroic.  The news is now filled with sports figures who believe that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want to, to whomever they please.  That is a story for another day though.  I must go do some cooking for our holiday dinner.  I wish all of you who celebrate (and all of you who don't ) a very happy and healthy new year.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

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Genre: Legal Thriller

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I find that the best books are the ones that grab my emotions early in the story.  The Alligator Man starts with a plot somewhat typical of the genre.  Kevin Wylie works for a big firm and discovers that his boss is less than honest in his dealings. Add to this a girlfriend who is ready to walk, and an estranged father who is dying, and some authors would get lost in the plodding.  James Sheehan is not your typical author.  He takes us to St Albans, Florida where alligators can grab a man right off the street.  Then he introduces us to Roy Johnson, one of the most hated corporate leaders in America, whose former company, Dynatron, caused the suffering of most of the town.

The death of Roy and subsequent arrest of Billy Fuller, a former employee of Dynatron who lost his wife, house and good friend because of Johnson's betrayal, gives Kevin a reason to stay in his childhood town.  His father's deteriorating health keeps him there as the estranged pair begin to work together. 

I enjoyed getting to know the characters as the story built in intensity.  The main characters were realistically portrayed and though the plot was farfetched at times, it always kept me coming back.  The side characters were interesting and definitely showed small town appeal.  I particularly liked the woman who ran the diner and gossiped whenever given the chance.  What small town would be complete without her?

I would like to think that there are quite a few lawyers like Kevin Wylie around, and I am hoping that Sheehan brings him back in a future novel.

- Beverly


Publisher - Center Street
Date of Publication - October 8, 2013

Genre: Children's Book

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Okay...I admit that I am a bit of a softie when it comes to anything that I can relate to my children, husband, family, friends, students, neighbor's dog. You name it, and it will bring a tear to my eyes.  Most books, however, don't leave me emotionally crippled for three hours.  The first time I read this book was in a seminar with a room filled with other teachers.  I broke into such wracking sobs that I had to leave the room.


Don't worry, your kids won't be upset, but moms need to bring tissues.  Munsch starts the book with a mom singing to her sleeping, baby son:
 "I'll love you forever
  I'll love you for always
  As long as I'm living
  My baby you'll be."

Through the trials and tribulations of childhood and teen years, she continues singing those words to him. When he becomes an adult she drives to his home and once again rocks her sleeping son and sings those words.  This brought my tears, but the ending did me in.  When the mom is too old and sick to hold her son, he rocks her and sings, substituting the word mother for the word baby.

Uh oh...I am crying again.  Just buy this beautifully illustrated book today.  Well worth the tears!

- Beverly


Publisher - Firefly Books
Date of Publication - September 1, 1995

"The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them." ~Samuel Butlers

I read a J. D. Robb book this week, and it got me thinking.  The book, Festive in Death, took place during the holiday season.  Parties, gifts, shopping...all of the fun parts of December...were there for us to share.  I realized, as I was reading, that authors don't just give us stories to read; they give us the ability to take part in worlds different then our own. It is fun to live a bit of someone else's life.  I was never a soap opera fan, BUT for a few years when my children were little, and I was a stay at home mom, I became addicted to "Days of Our Lives".  The story lines were pretty inane (for those of you who watched...exactly how old was Alice Horton supposed to be when she finally left after forty years of matriarchal duties?) but boy did I love the Christmas and Thanksgiving shows.  I honestly felt like part of the family when we all trimmed the tree and roasted the turkey, and I loved being a Horton for a few days each year.

The escapism of a good book, or television show, no matter what the genre is what allows us to relax in a high stress world.  To quote Frank Sinatra, "I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king" while reading my books through the years. The best thing about living these lives with my fictional friends is the knowledge that it will all work out okay...or I will just close the book and jump into another one.

The other book that I "jumped" into this week was Cosby: His Life and Times.  It is an interesting peek into the life of Bill Cosby, who as Cliff Huxtable was the only gynecologist who ever made me laugh. This book describes the life of a young man who was determined to make something of himself. He failed several times in high school, dropped out in eleventh grade, and ended up getting his doctorate degree from the University of Massachusetts.  He grew up impossibly poor and ended up impressively rich.  Most importantly, he grew up to be a role model for many young men from neighborhoods like the one he left behind. The book tells it like it is...the strengths and weaknesses of Cosby are evident.  It brought me back to the days of The Bill Cosby Show, I Spy, and of course Fat Albert, and that was fun for a while.

Speaking of fun, we have begun planning our October vacation to Paris.  We have never been to France, and I am so excited.  We are taking a two day side trip to Amsterdam, and I figure between the nine hour plane trip each way (to Paris) and four hour train trip each way (Amsterdam) I will be able to keep up with my reading. I also picture myself, Arthur and our kindles relaxing on the bank of the Seine with a basket of croissants, baguettes, brioche and any bread I happened to have forgotten. Yummy!

On that note, I will go make myself some lunch, sit in front of the lake here and read for a bit.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

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Genre: Biography

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There isn't a baby boomer alive who doesn't have fond memories of the Huxtable family. Cliff Huxtable, a beloved physician, raised a wonderful family with his wife Clair, and we got to visit with them weekly. As warm as that character he played was, I think Bill himself is probably warmer.  He is a kind man who obviously loves making people laugh.  Mark Whitaker caught that part of this comedy legend perfectly in this book.
 
We once went to a Bill Cosby live concert, and we spent those two hours smiling, chuckling and occasionally just plain belly laughing.  As I read through the chapters of Cosby: His Life and Times, I felt the same emotions.  The early part of his life was not easy.  His father was a drunk, and his mother worked long and hard to raise her children.  He watched his father beat his mother and felt helpless.  The family was poor and the food scarce.  Yet Bill kept his sense of humor and used it to get out of jams more than once.   The reader can't help but cheer for the young boy who was determined to succeed, even after failing tenth grade twice and dropping out of high school.
 
The author talks about Cosby's years at Temple University and his eventual success.  He became a man to look up to, no matter your race.  Whitaker goes on to talk about his great success in show business and some of the personal tragedies in his life. He does not hide Cosby's womanizing or the weaker parts of his personality, but it is also evident that the author feels Cosby is a pioneer as far as black advancement is concerned.

I enjoyed the book and the insight it gave me into the life of one of my favorite comedians.

- Beverly


Publisher - Simon & Schuster
Date of Publication - September 16, 2014

Genre: Mystery

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It is holiday season, and Eve Dallas has another murder to solve.  The victim is far from a neighborhood favorite, but as always, Eve is determined to find the person who left a knife in the chest of this womanizing narcissist.

I must admit, this is my first Eve Dallas book, and J. D. Robb did a good job making her seem real to me.  I enjoyed reading about her work as a homicide detective as well as becoming a spectator in her personal life.  Most authors keep their detectives single yet involved. I love that Eve is married to Roark, and their romantic scenes do a great job softening the book.

One of my friends, a J.D. Robb fan, explained that Eve was a little harder in some of her previous books.  Maybe her husband helped to soften her, but I found her quite likable.  I also found that some of the lesser characters were quite engaging without stealing the show.

The holiday scenes also made the book more fun to read.  There was no shortage of possible bad guys for us to worry about, and the holiday spirit kept the book from being too dark.  I am wondering why it is out in September rather than December though.

I will recommend this book to you and then download an earlier one for myself.

- Beverly


Publisher - Putnam Adult
Date of Publication - September 9, 2014

"The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it." ~James Bryce

Many years ago, a young singer named Helen Reddy was performing in a hotel in Miami.  She had recently come out with a song that became my anthem...I Am Woman. I belted it out in the car when I was alone, in the shower when no one was home, and in my head constantly.  Arthur decided to treat me to a night on the town...dinner and Helen Reddy.  The warm up act for Ms. Reddy was a comedienne who was new to me.  Her humor was shocking...she was criticizing people a la Don Rickles, and she was bringing up topics that most men wouldn't touch. She was hysterical!  She was Joan Rivers.  Recently I bought her book , Diary of a Mad Diva, and then forgot I had it.  I decided to pull it out this week and give it a try.  I guess I am getting older, but it made me a little uncomfortable.  I think I liked her a lot more than I like her writing.  Don't get me wrong, there are some very funny parts in that book, but some other parts were just a bit too much for me.  That being said, the world (and I) will miss Joan Rivers.  She told it like it is...said things most of us wouldn't dare to even think and through it all she made us laugh till we cried.  I hope that she and Robin Williams are indeed yucking it up, up there.  I also hope that I won't feel compelled to write about anymore well known people who have left us before we were ready to say goodbye.

Saying goodbye to senior citizens is difficult enough, but saying goodbye to children is beyond what we should ever have to do.  My second reviewed book this week is The Competition by Marcia Clark.  Her story about a Columbine-like shooting situation was upsetting, but it did keep me interested.  Unfortunately there will always be enough tragic events in the news to give authors a plethora of ideas for new novels to keep us reading.

Speaking of keeping us reading, the first step is to start children reading at an early age.  Kids like consistency, and children's series have always been popular.  We all remember the Bobbsey Twins,  The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, etc.  We couldn't wait until the next book in the series was released, no matter which series we were involved in at the moment.  WHERE IS MY HOME ?  by Tali Carmi is part of a series written for younger children.  The series is about a little redhead by the name of Terry Treetops. Young readers seem to enjoy this energetic young man as do I.  My reviews on children's books are my way of promoting books as gifts for the very young.  Forming new readers...one book at a time!

Hope all of you are enjoying the book that you are reading right now, but even if you are not, remember that there is always another great one waiting to be read.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

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Genre: Humor

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If you try to think of the most politically incorrect things that you have ever heard and put it on steroids, you will get an idea of what will be in store for you when you read Diary of a Mad Diva. Don't misunderstand me, the book is funny...hysterical in some parts...but make sure that you are prepared to be uncomfortable in other parts.  It actually takes a great deal to make me squeamish in a book, but I definitely felt that way when Anne Frank was being handled in typical Joan Rivers' style.

On the other hand, I loved reading about Kim and  Kanye's over the top wedding and have no trouble with her attacking politicians, athletes and Supreme Court justices.  Since we all have things that might make us squirm, I admire the comedians who don't give a hoot about who they offend.  Joan Rivers was such a voice, and I loved her for it.  Her daughter gave her a diary as a gift and off she went.

I can not recommend this book to all, because I know some people who would be horrified. I will recommend it, however, to anyone who knows Joan Rivers' humor and appreciates it for what it is.  This is the last thing she will ever write, and when you realizes she was in her eighties when she had the guts to do it...just WOW!

- Beverly


Publisher - Berkley Hardcover
Date of Publication - July 1, 2014

Genre: Thriller

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It is common for an author to have two protagonists sharing the spotlight, and more and more we read about two women who are heroically saving the day.  Marcia Clark, a former prosecutor, brings us L. A. County's Special Trials Prosecutor Rachel Knight and Detective Bailey Keller.  In this novel they are called to the scene of a school shooting.  The perpetrators are obviously trying to outdo Columbine, and at first glance seem to have ended it the same way...double suicide.  Things aren't always what they seem to be, and the plot certainly thickens.

I am generally not a fan of books that end up with dead young people.  After years of teaching in a high school setting, these books hit too close to home.  I am not sure why I decided to read this one, but it is well done and worth the read.  Ms. Clark definitely keeps the excitement going, and I often found myself holding my breath.  The first few chapters are difficult in that the reader can feel the emotions as the shooters go on their spree. I persevered though and am glad that I did. She takes it way past the high school setting and into some frightening places.

I am not sure that she does quite enough with her character build up.  I guess I wanted the relationship between the women to be more like The Women's Murder Club (Patterson) group or maybe television's Rizzoli and Isles.  The women in those cases have such obvious feelings of friendship that you want to be part of their group.  Don't get me wrong, Knight and Keller are definitely friends.  I think the characters might need just a little more depth for me to want to be part of their team.

All in all I believe that Marcia Clark did a very good job with a very touchy subject.  Read it and let me know what you think.

- Beverly


Publisher - Mulholland Books
Date of Publication - July 8, 2014

Genre: Children's Book

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Where Is My Home? is such  a charming little book.  The illustrations are colorful and made me want to keep turning the page.  This book is the third in a series about an adorable redheaded boy and the adventures he encounters.  In Where Is My Home?  he notices a beautiful butterfly and tries to follow it.  Unfortunately, he wanders too far and finds himself lost and hungry.  As he comes across various animals they try to help him, until finally he is reunited with his mother.  Ms. Carmi does a wonderful job showing the generosity and kindness of these animals. She personifies them and shows a warm relationship between animals and people.  These animals keep Terry from ever being terribly frightened and contribute towards a happy ending.

I highly recommend this book for young children. In fact, I am off to find the first two in the series.

- Beverly


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August 12, 2014